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Books that made you look at things differently
I can think of a few works that made me think differently about stuff, and I think helped me to think more clearly and percieve how things work more closely to reality than previously. Here's some of them:
1. The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins A titanically great book, this has a final chapter that actually spawned a whole new science: Memetics. Here, Dawkins posits the notion of a meme. As a gene is to genetic evolution, a meme is to cultural evolution. A meme can be an idea, a tune, a phrase, or anything that sits in your head, comes out of your mouth/typings/writings and gets transferred to another brain. Examples: "Sup, bro", "It's not even close", and so on. It gave me a fundamentally different view of how society, religion, politics and generally systems of thinking and acting work. See Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme 2+3. 1984 - George Orwell and Dune - Frank Herbert These two books gave me a good insight into political power, and power groups. The first was really about how power groups try to maintain their power by manipulation of mind and thought, whilst Dune (though a work of Science Fiction) made it very clear that sometimes motives of people are not clear, and their motivations may easily hide very deep intentions. As is said in the book 'Seeing the trap is the first step in avoiding the trap'. A sort of introduction to 2nd and 3rd level thinking. 4. Assorted works of Dilbert - I'm not kidding I started reading these when I was working for a big outsourcing IT firm. I couldn't believe how much I learnt about stuff going on around me, from being a 'team leader' (which I was, of 25-30 guys + gals!) without actually getting any extra pay, right through to how throwaway comments on your self-assessment pay review forms can and will be dragged out at some later date to justify you not getting a raise. Any of you had the same? |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
Fame in the 20th Century by Clive James
The book is designed as an entertaining and funny read about celebrities and fame. But there's a deeper theme running through it, about how television and the Hollywood star have changed and perverted our perception of reality, sometimes dangerously so. It made me stop and think about what's real and how life would be without television and the media. It's also an excellent compendium of 20th century icons and a must read for anyone who wishes to get up to speed with 20th century popular culture. Highly recommended. What Remains to Be Discovered: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of Life, and the Future of the Human Race by John Maddox. This is a truly fascinating book about science, written by the former editor of Nature (a prestigious science journal). The first thing that strikes you about this book is the writing style; the author writes with a clarity and precision I've never seen before or since. The book is written to be understand by a layman. The writing is so clear that the author lets you into his mind, and for a while you see the world from the privileged perspective of someone who's been at the forefront of scientific development for 25 years. You come out the other side and little wiser and somewhat in awe of science. This book shook any notions I had that science had slowed down, or that most major discoveries have been made. How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then and Now - William H. Calvin A fascinating book that explores intelligence from the perspective of neurons, synapses, and the physical structures in the brain, in a non technical and interesting manner. The author is a neurophysiologist, and goes into detail about how the brain stores and retrieves information and makes decisions, with a lengthy discussion on how these factors affect intelligence - and what intelligence is. The insights in this book are nothing short of profound - it will change the way you view consciousness and intelligence. |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Just a brilliant book that made me look at the world, and what it means to be alive in it, differently. ~D |
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Re: Books that made you look at things differently
food revolution , by john robbins.
along with fast food nation (eric schlosser), these books got me to stop vacillating on what i eat (back and forth for a decade on vegetarian/not vegetarian/partial vegetarian). by the end of this book, i was convinced i'd never eat meat again. the quiet zone rules...i'm quite certain i'd never write that post in oot. |
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Re: Books that made you look at things differently
Off the top of my head:
Blink, Malcolm Gladwell God's Debris, Scott Adams The Age of Spiritual Machines, Ray Kurzweil Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell |
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Fingerprints Of The Gods- Graham Hancock
This book got me thinking so much more about who we are and where we came from. There are some startling facts in this book that boggle the mind. e.g. The Piri Reis map. This is a real map which was made by a cartographer in 1513 from older "source maps" It just so happens to depict in perfect detail the surface of the land mass (in part) of Antarctica. (Some 300 years before Antartica was even discovered) The land mass thats underneath the ice sheet which couldn't possibly have been seen or mapped at that time. The earliest possible time this "source map" could have been written was 4000BC - which is intriguing to say the least. Other maps are presented that show perfect lines of latitude and longitude - humans were unable to work out longitude with any degree of accuracy until the late 18th century yet these maps are much older.... [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] This book is also responsible for kicking off my obsession with Pyramids. To cut a long story short using all of the 21st century techniques and tools at our disposal we couldn't build the Great Pyramids of Giza today(the Japanese actually tried to build a smaller replica and failed miserably) - not even close - not to the same standards of precision that someone did build them to. If we can't build them now why are we supposed to believe that primitive Egyptians a few thousand years ago managed it?? The pyramids also "map out" the constellation of Orion, and are pretty exact in their placement (read VERY exact) Interestingly though they only match perfectly with the night skies as seen at Giza c.10500 B.C. - long before the "Ancient Egyptians" were on the scene. The sphinx has been dated using geology and weathering patterns caused by falling rain - (it's in the middle of a desert.) The only time rain could have fallen on it in significantly large amounts to cause the weathering was thousands of years ago. There are walls built of huge polygonal blocks in South America built who knows when out of mammoth pieces of limestone - all odd shapes - all enourmous - they still fit together today well enough so that you can't even slide a piece of paper inbetween the joints. There are reports of strange bearded white men called the "Viracochas" which sound very familiar to descriptions of a certain biblical figure (and I don't mean Chris Ferguson) - but I digress. Basically these people are credited with civilising the mayas and Incas - teaching them about lots of stuff - and then vanishing. They are also the reason the mayas were all but wiped out by Spanish conquistadors - according to their legends these men would return in the future - handily for the Spanish they resembled beared white men and were welcomed with open arms by the Mayas - who were then promptly slaughtered. How much knowledge has the human race lost because of that.... This book opened my eyes to lots of different things that I had never thought about before - I highly recommend it. |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
I looked at milk much differently after reading the book "Milk: the deadly poison"
By the way, please don't drink milk, I want you all to live!! |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
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Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid Just a brilliant book that made me look at the world, and what it means to be alive in it, differently. ~D [/ QUOTE ] This was my choice too. I try to give it a read about once every year and a half, and never feel like I fail to get something new out of it. It's the book that got me started on books about the nature of thought. You've got to put a lot into it to get a lot out though. ==arbitrary |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
the bell curve
freakanomics |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
When I first took philosophy, I was profoundly interested in Descartes' first meditation on the existence of an external world (in Meditations) and Hume's skepticism about inductive reasoning (in Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding).
Of course, I don't seriously apply the skeptical doubts from either work to my life. But I really thought a lot about the arguments involved and I think that made me a better critical thinker. |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
less than zero
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Re: Books that made you look at things differently
Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic of Cancer, and The Air Conditioned Nightmare by Henry Miller
Journey to the End of the Night by Celine Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver Ki in Daily Life by I forget the name, last name Tohei I think |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
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Off the top of my head: Blink, Malcolm Gladwell God's Debris, Scott Adams The Age of Spiritual Machines, Ray Kurzweil Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell [/ QUOTE ] i agree...gladwell is such a good non-fiction writer. |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
the Seth Material recounted by Jane Roberts, changed my entire outlook on time and life. it is one of the few books that doesn't ask for money when they talk about spirituality and/or religion.
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Re: Books that made you look at things differently
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Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid Just a brilliant book that made me look at the world, and what it means to be alive in it, differently. ~D [/ QUOTE ] Damn. I guess I'm gonna have to read this. I bought it half a year ago, but it's so freakin big. Mine is: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn It's a fiction, but it reads kind of like a philosophy lecture. The main argument made in the story is based on some false premises, because the book is fictional, but it does a great job of making you rethink things that you take for granted. |
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Re: Books that made you look at things differently
lots of good books in this thread.
i'll give two a few on a theme consciousness explained - dennett the illusion of conscious will - wegner how the mind works - pinker the first two are quite challenging, both because the subject matter is difficult and the theses go straight against popular thought. wegner's writing is second rate, but the ideas are clear enough. the third one isn't as eye-opening, but pinker is a great writer and the topics are much more accessible, so it may be a good appetizer for the heavier stuff. |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
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[ QUOTE ] [b] Ishmael by Daniel Quinn It's a fiction, but it reads kind of like a philosophy lecture. The main argument made in the story is based on some false premises, because the book is fictional, but it does a great job of making you rethink things that you take for granted. [/ QUOTE ] |
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Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
This might be the most amazing book I have ever read. It's scope is huge -- over 1000 pages long, and connects several characters and storylines that ultimately explore our (human) obsession with and relationship to our emotions, and, I guess, the things we do to effect them. |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
The Fountainhead.
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Re: Books that made you look at things differently
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The Fountainhead. [/ QUOTE ] Can that work stand independently of Atlas Shrugged? Have you read the work on Epistemology, only 70 pages but they are dense and meaningful for a mind dead set on reason. Cam |
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Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Fundamentally simple and effective |
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Almost too cliché but The Outsider by Albert Camus.
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Tom Wolfe - Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
This book definately altered my view on the power of the human mind. |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
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how the mind works - pinker [/ QUOTE ] Pinker sometimes ruffles a lot of feathers in the field when (psychologists perceive that) he speaks for everyone. I'd like to read this book anyway, though. |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
i'll add some to the list:
Slaughter-house five, Kurt Vonnegut It's cliche to mention Vonnegut, but that's partly because it's so often true. I came across Kurt as I was re-evaluating my worldview and a couple of his books were quite helpful simply because he approached life from a completely different angle than I was used to. see also: Breakfast of Champions, Jailbird, and Mother Night, which could be his best. On the Road, Jack Kerouac i have a great affinity for the carefree style of the beats (had i been born earlier i likely would have been one), which is natural for anyone who enjoys road trips as much as i do. I read this about once a year. Visions of Gerard is also great, and i name all my fantasy sports teams The Dharma Bums in honor of that novel. lately, though, this is starting to be confused with the Dharma Initiative by people who suspect i might know more about Lost than i'm letting on. (i don't) A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis Lewis' struggle with faith, love, and life after the death of his wife. a refreshingly honest little book. Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich A writer's quest to live on "McJobs" in different American cities w/o a safety net. A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn honest about it's bias, but a shocking history book. Catch-22, Joseph Heller Vonnegut called it the greatest anti-war book ever written. this taught me a great deal about the power of satire and dark humor. Abba's Child, Brennan Manning a beautiful book for anyone unhappy with organized religion. I saw him once open for the late Rich Mullins and it was as if the clouds were parted. Adultery & Other Choices, Andre Dubus sometimes love is messy. My Century, Gunter Grass 100 short stories about Germany. One for every year of the 20th century The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck as a devotee of Woody Guthrie and the like, this hit me harder than i thought possible. Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby so much better than either film version. how do you work a relationship into an obsession? |
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THE DA VINCI CODE - by Dan Brown
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Re: Books that made you look at things differently
The books by Sven Hassel made me look at things differently.
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Re: Books that made you look at things differently
Die, re: 1984
I know my Mom said she never looked at the world the same after she read this book. I think I had the same experience from Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 70s movie. I really feel like Chronicles of Narnia helped shape my imagination as a child. Although the movie was kind of a disappointment to that memory. Is that really all there was to the story? #3 - Voyage of the Dawn Treader was my favorite though. Hopefully they get to that and it lives up. |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
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Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People. Fundamentally simple and effective [/ QUOTE ] How to talk dirty and influence people: an autobiography, 1965, LENNY BRUCE A bit more switched on that the former! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
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The Fountainhead. [/ QUOTE ] Got halfway through and HATED the characters, but still had to finish it....sigh... Chaim Potok is one of my favorite fiction writers. I recommend My Name is Asher Lev, the story of a young Hasidic Jewish artist. |
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The Elegant Universe - Brian Greene. This book introduced me to the world of classical and quantum physics. My mind was blown at the implications of quantum mechanics. This book also deals heavily with String or M Theory, which is the theoretical framework that might one day be a theory of everything in the universe. Very good and easy to read
The Lucifer Principle Howard Bloom. This is along the same lines as the one DB mentioned, dealing with memes, genes, and sociology. It is very well researched with many citations as long as very entertaining. Others include "Parallel Universes" by Michio Kaku and "The Fabric of the Cosmos" again by Brian Greene. |
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Godel Escher Bach, Minds I... what's the deal with these books? They come highly recommeneded but for the life of me I can't understand them. Minds I, here is a typical sentence "but the deadly cat gives us a paradox on the two non comittal states it could be in. one is a discrete eigenvalue and the other is a continual stream of conciousness how is this to be resolved!?" blah blah blah on forever. Same with GEB don't get it
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Re: Books that made you look at things differently
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My Century, Gunter Grass [/ QUOTE ] Pryor, Have you read <u>The Tin Drum</u>, b/c I liked it as much as "Century." |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
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[ QUOTE ] My Century, Gunter Grass [/ QUOTE ] Pryor, Have you read <u>The Tin Drum</u>, b/c I liked it as much as "Century." [/ QUOTE ] I like the Tin Drum a lot, both the film and the book. Grass always has something interesting to say in it. I'v tried a few others of his though, and found them a little high-noise. |
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The Dice Man by George Cockcroft (pen name Luke Rhinehart)
Read it while backpacking in India. After reading it many of my decisions were made by throwing a dice. |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
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[ QUOTE ] My Century, Gunter Grass [/ QUOTE ] Pryor, Have you read <u>The Tin Drum</u>, b/c I liked it as much as "Century." [/ QUOTE ] no, but it's in the big pile of stuff i want to read. my roommate loves it. |
Re: Books that made you look at things differently
Fast Food Nation
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